Free GuideThere is no charge for this short guide, but please

make a donation to the church’s upkeep if you use it.

You are welcome to keep it. A full illustrated

History and Guide to the building and memorials

is also available to buy.

Sidney ChapelThe chapel’s present design dates from 1822. The ceiling is painted with the family’s heraldic shields, hung on sinuous trees. Memorials in the chapel include:

•The top half of a recumbent figure in chain mail, Sir Stephen de Penchester (d.1299), first recorded owner of Penshurst Place. (Front cover)

•Altar-tomb of Sir William Sidney (1482-1554) to whom King Edward VI gave Penshurst Place in 1552.

•A brass to Margaret Sidney, sister of Sir Philip Sidney.

•A brass cross to Thomas Bullayen, brother of Anne Boleyn, 2nd wife of Henry VIII. (Back cover)

•A wall monument to Robert Sidney, 4th Earl of Leicester (d.1702), his wife and nine of his children who died in infancy. (Back cover)

•A marble tomb chest to Philip Sidney, 5th Earl of Leicester.

•A brass to Thomas Yden, who died in 1514, his wife Agnes and daughter Joan.

•A leger stone to Field Marshall Viscount Gort VC, GCB, CBE, DSO, MVO, MC (d.1946), commander of British Expeditionary Force at Dunkirk 1939.

•A wall memorial to Philip Sidney, 1st Viscount de L’Isle VC KG (d.1991), member of Churchill’s post-war Cabinet; 1961 Governor General of Australia.

PenshurstChurchHigh Street (B2176)

PenshurstTonbridge, Kent

TN11 8BNwww.penshurstchurch.org

Contact: The Rev’d Tom Holme 01892 870316

Research and Text: David LoughPhotography: Martin Barraud

Copyright: Penshurst Parochial Church Council 2011

Baroque-style memorial of Robert Sidney

Burial stone and cross of Thomas Bullayen

English history seen through a village churchThis leaflet has been made possible by a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund

The north aisle was widened in 1854 by Sir George Gilbert Scott, who designed London’s St. Pancras Station. His grandson, Sir Giles Gilbert Scott designed this church’s War memorial.

At the western end of the aisle is a memorial to Field Marshall Henry, 1st Viscount Hardinge, (d.1856). After service in the Peninsular War, he was Wellington’s commissioner to the Prussian army in 1815. He served as governor-general

of India from 1844 and commander-in-chief of the British army during the Crimean war.

His younger grandson, Charles Hardinge, followed as Viceroy of India 1910-1916. His great grandson, Alexander, became Private Secretary to successive Kings, including Edward VIII during the Abdication Crisis and George VI during WWII.

The Nave houses the oldest surviving section of the building: at its junction with the Tower is a thickening in construction, dating from the 12th century. The ancient line of the roof, before it was raised to improve the light in the 15th century, can clearly be seen.

The decorative ends of the roof rafters were sawn off by Cromwell’s Puritan troops during the Civil War: sawn stumps can be seen above the painted shields along either side of the nave. The columns supporting the arches on the north side of the Nave are in the Early English style, dated about 1200; those on the south side are more complex

and date from the Decorated period, 1290 to 1350.

Penshurst’s first priest, Wilhelmus, was installed in 1170 by Thomas à Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, two days before his murder.

The church’s most striking exterior feature is the Tower, formed of three architectural stages. The first dates from the 15th century; the clock stage and belfry were added in the 18th.

The Becket window, by the south-west entrance, is by Lawrence Lee, a Master Glazier and Penshurst resident. The Font dates from the 15th century.

Set into the Tower’s southern inside wall is a stone portrait of the ‘Smiling Lady of Penshurst’, said to date from the early 13th century although this is contested. The Tower’s northern wall

carries a memorial to four villagers killed in the Boer War.

The Old Guild House

The Old Guild House, on the side of Leicester Square, is one of only two still left standing in England and believed to date from 1475.

St Luke’s Chapel houses the Luke Tapestry, which depicts the partnership between medical science and Christianity. It was designed and woven by a former village doctor, Dr A. Wood.

The wall memorial is to Sir William Coventry, a prominent politician in 17th century Restoration England and powerful naval commissioner

when Samuel Pepys, was writing his diary. The carving below the memorial is attributed to Grinling Gibbons.

The Church

ALTAR

WC WC

N

North Aisle

Nave

South Aisle

Tower Chancel

Sidney Chapel

Entrance Luke Chapel

There has certainly been a church in Penshurst on the present site since 1115 when it is mentioned in the Textus Roffensis. There may have been a church on the site since before the Norman Conquest in 1066: the discovery of Saxon artefacts on adjoining land reinforces evidence that the foundations date from 860AD. The Nave

The South Aisle & St Luke’s Chapel

The North Aisle